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Duchene finally a Predator

July 1, 2019, 3:24 PM ET [20 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
UFA Day is here and Pred Nation finally has what a lot of folks were screaming for… Matt Duchene.

After a long courtship that saw him go to Ottawa and Columbus over the past few seasons, Matt Duchene is now a Nashville Predator and will be for the next seven seasons at a cap hit of $8 million per year.

Here’s the breakdown by season…
2019-20: $2 mil base salary with an $8 million signing bonus
2020-21: $3 mil base salary with a $5 million signing bonus
2021-22: $5 mil base salary with a $5 million signing bonus
2022-23: $4 mil base salary with a $4 million signing bonus
2023-24: $7 mil base salary with a $2 million signing bonus with a limited no trade clause
2024-25: $4 mil base salary with a $2 million signing bonus with a limited no trade clause
2025-26: $3 mil base salary with a $2 million signing bonus with a limited no trade clause

There is a few interesting things in this deal, a couple of things that David Poile has been reticent to do… first… there pretty big signing bonuses… 50% of the deal is in signing bonus. The big piece is that Duchene will get his signing bonus even if there is labor issues during the course of the contract. The second, the limited no trade clause that kicks in during the last three seasons of the deal. He becomes only the second Predator on the roster with an NTC.

Frankly, I’m a little surprised at the reasonableness of this deal. Especially when you look at a few of the sillier deals that have been announced so far today, I will get into those in a future blog. Adding Duchene’s salary leaves over $5 million in cap space, plenty of room to get Rocco Grimaldi and Colton Sissions signed, maybe even a little left over to get Brian Boyle back in the fold.

It been a rather circuitous route to getting this player. Matt Duchene moved as part of the 3 way Kyle Turris trade between the Preds, Colorado and Ottawa and now it has me wondering… Why even involve Turris if the target was Duchene? Would Colorado not trade within the division? It’s a fascinating question and one we may never get an answer to.

And speaking of questions… what does this do for the lineup? Let’s face it … you can’t be too deep down the middle. Would it surprise me to see a Kyle Turris or Nick Bonino traded? Actually… it would. The Preds now have some outstanding depth down the middle… with the JoFA line now being backed up by a line centered by Matt Duchene between any combination of Craig Smith, Mikael Granlund or Kyle Turris … it’s an excellent situation and potentially a nightmare for opposing coaches as a dangerous second line (a 1B line if you will) makes the JoFA line much more effective and the reverse it also true. It is one of the things that has been a hallmark of successful Nashville teams.

An under-the-radar, Milwaukee help move is also the signing of Daniel Carr. Carr is coming off an AHL MVP year for Chicago… he has 100 NHL games and will be a very nice addition for the Admirals.

Silly season is in full swing! We will break down more of the signings across the league tomorrow.

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